Study: Plastic Pollution Increases Ocean Acidification

In the study, published last week in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin, international scientists concluded that plastic pollution, particularly single-use plastic water bottles, collected harmful bacteria and microorganisms, which flourish in carbon dioxide-rich environments.

Increased levels of CO2 in the world’s oceans are one of the causes of coral bleaching, and rising carbon levels have accelerated the climate crisis. The Great Barrier Reef, the largest system of corals in the world, is now 50 percent bleached.

The study also found that beneficial bacteria, an important part of the carbon cycle, were adversely affected.

In addition to coral bleaching, ocean acidification is often a driver in biodiversity loss, with disrupted food webs threatening species.

“Up to 13 million tons of plastics from land end up in the oceans each year and they have been shown to affect all types and sizes of marine species,” said senior author of the study Jason Hall-Spencer, a professor of marine biology at the University of Plymouth….